Jacksonville Ends Effort To Join Nfl

The City Council Rejected A Stadium Lease Agreement With The Expansion Group.

July 23, 1993|By Jon Morgan, Baltimore Sun

BALTIMORE — The competition for the NFL's two expansion teams, which has been characterized as a three-way race, has moved closer to that with the withdrawal of long shot Jacksonville.

The prospective ownership group in Jacksonville officially notified the league Thursday that it was quitting the race after failing to come to terms with city officials on a lease and renovation plan for the 46-year-old Gator Bowl.

Jacksonville city council members refused on Wednesday to endorse a tentative agreement with Touchdown Jacksonville!, the group trying to court the NFL. The council balked at provisions of the deal that might have left it responsible for cost overruns and asked for modifications.

But J. Wayne Weaver, a wealthy shoe company investor and head of the Jacksonville NFL investment group, announced that he was dropping the bid, ending the city's 15-year effort to get a team.

The city's withdrawal leaves four contenders for the two expansion franchises the league is scheduled to award in October for play in 1995: Baltimore, St. Louis, Charlotte, N.C., and Memphis, Tenn.

The elimination of Jacksonville and the financing troubles that have stalled Memphis' bid appear to make NFL expansion a three-way race for two teams.

Jacksonville, along with Memphis, had generally been considered a long shot in the race, but its candidacy seemed to be picking up support in recent months with investment group changes and expanded stadium renovations.

Its plans to upgrade an existing stadium instead of building new, and the big, 82,000-seat capacity of the Gator Bowl could have made it a lucrative city for other teams to play in, given the NFL practice of sharing ticket and other revenues.